A woman who marched her children out of a queue at a café in Cribbs Causeway because they were misbehaving has been invited back to enjoy a free coffee and cake after a member of staff called her ‘my hero’.

Jo Constable, who works at the Mall branch of Pret A Manger, wrote a heartfelt open letter of admiration to the mum, after witnessing her children ‘causing a scene’ in the eaterie on Friday.

She contacted the Bristol Post and is now appealing to spread the open letter far and wide so that it is read by the mum who could recognise it is about her – and can come back, with or without her children, and enjoy a complimentary treat.

Jo’s letter said the mum and her two children were in the queue to be served, but the kids started acting up.

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“They were loud and inevitably it caught the attention of myself and other people,” said Jo.

“After fair warning to your children, with no let up from them, you announced to them that it was time to leave.

“I believe the line you used was ‘I will not spend money on children who are misbehaving.’ After much protest from the kids you managed to leave the shop and I can imagine you had somewhat of a lively trip home,” she added.

Jo said she wanted the stressed mum to know that, actually, everyone in the queue and among the staff were in admiration of the mystery mum.

Jo's Facebook post:

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“I can imagine that you felt embarrassed that they had ‘caused a scene’,” Jo added. “I can imagine that you may have thought any onlookers were judging you, or rolling their eyes, or tutting, or saying that good-old classic ‘control your kids.’

“This I can only speculate on, as I don’t know you. What I do know, however, is that once you left there was a conversation between six people, customers included, regarding your parenting abilities.

“Maybe this mortifies you, but let me tell you the conversation was all about how in awe we were of you, and how you handled the situation. You were calm when the kids weren’t. You were fair when the kids were pushing boundaries. You are my hero,” she said.

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“All parents have been in this situation. All children have acted up in public. Maybe there are people who judge, but let me tell you that none of that happened today.

“Maybe it would have been easier to get the cookie that was being screamed for, but you stood your ground and followed through on the warning that you would all leave if their behaviour didn’t improve.

“I couldn’t tell if you were embarrassed when you left, but I really hope you were holding your head high, as you championed in a difficult situation and I applaud you.

“Your children may have been acting somewhat less that angelic right then (all kids do from time to time) but with you as a parent I’m pretty sure that they are going to grow up into lovely people with you leading their way,” she added.

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And there was an invitation to the mum to come back to Pret. “When you get a chance we hope you will return to Pret at Cribbs. When you get here, we will serve you the (well deserved) coffee that you didn’t get a chance to enjoy and a cake to go with it, and the cost is on us,” added Jo.

Jo's Facebook post containing the open letter has been shared almost 700 times with hundreds of people reacting positively to it.